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The badge which originally was designed with a blue background with thistle and saltire superimposed, required a deposit of five shillings from the guide and remained the property of the Scottish Tourist Board.’
In 1964 a series of 20 lectures costing one guinea was started for those wishing to extend the scope of their diplomas by passing tests for districts not already covered by the diplomas.
These were on: Glasgow and the Clyde, Burns Country including Dumfries and Galloway, Central Scotland including Angus, Fife, Kincardineshire and Kinross-shire, the Central and Northern Highlands, the Western Highlands and Islands, the North East and Orkney and Shetland.
In 1965, according to the STGA seventh annual report of the Executive committee, classes for guide candidates were organised and held, normally at weekly intervals in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Owing to the change in the policy of the Extra-Mural Department of Edinburgh University, the Edinburgh classes, previously held under the auspices of that department, were held, from the beginning of the 1965/66 session under the auspices of the Edinburgh Council Education Department with the co-operation of the Workers Education Association. Glasgow classes were held under the auspices of the City of Glasgow Council Education Department and were organised by committee member Hugh Hutchison.
In the early part of 1965, some 12 candidates were successful in passing the tests in Edinburgh but two later left the Association.
Four were employees of Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department and out of the remaining six, only one was available as a full-time guide. The Executive Committee was obviously unhappy about this.
“These figures seem to us to point to the desirability of admitting to the classes, in both cities, only candidates who are able and willing to serve as guides when called upon, exception being made only for those with language qualifications,”it said.
Another significant milestone for the STGA was when Basil Skinner took over from John Barclay as Director of Extra Mural Studies at the University of Edinburgh in 1966.
Although Dr Barclay continued to lecture, Skinner also played a major role in honing the skills of guides.
Skinner was born in Edinburgh in 1923 and attended school at Edinburgh Academy where he won the Aitken Prize in Classics.
He went on to study at Edinburgh University. But the Second World War intervened, and he served with the East Riding of Yorkshire Infantry in Normandy, later moving to the Intelligence Corps.
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